SIG boosts drinks packaging business

SIG makes it big in liquid packaging Keystone

The SIG industrial group of Neuhausen says it has become one of the world's leading companies in liquid packaging, with the acquisition of a part of its Italian rival, SASIB.

SIG is buying SASIB Wet for SFr90 million ($53.3 million) from Italy’s CIR group, which is a holding company of Italian tycoon Carlo de Benedetti.

SASIB Wet, with an annual turnover of SFr742 million and a staff of 2,200, is among the leading suppliers of high-speed filling machines for drinks and is operated through the brand name Simonazzi.

In a statement, SIG said that with this acquisition, it would achieve net sales in packaging machinery for cartons and plastic containers of around SFr3 billion.

SIG chief executive Roman Boutellier said the purchase filled a gap in the portfolio of the group, which has been divesting non-core businesses to focus on packaging.

“By taking over the SASIB Wet business activities, SIG now offers a complete packaging line for liquids in plastics,” he said.

However, Boutellier warned that 2001 would not be an easy year for SASIB Wet given the company’s exposure to the slowing United States economy.

Under the terms of the agreement, which still has to be approved by the competition authorities, SIG will be taking on SASIB Wet’s net debt of SFr180 million.

swissinfo with agencies